At a community meeting Tuesday at Columbia College, Chicago Department of Transportation Project Director Janet Attarian outlined plans for the new Roosevelt Road streetscape from State Street to Columbus Drive. The project will include a groundbreaking new segment of sidewalk-level, two-way bicycle lane, part of a bike-friendly route to and from the lakefront. The info session, hosted by aldermen Pat Dowell (3rd) and Will Burns (4th), also covered CDOT’s proposal for a new protected bike lane on State Street from 18th Street to 26th Street in Bronzeville – we’ll have a report on that project soon.

The new sidewalk bikeway, which Attarian referred to as a “sidepath,” will be built on the north side of Roosevelt between Wabash Street and Indiana Avenue, connecting with multiuse paths through Grant Park. The streetscape project will also include pedestrian improvements and high-capacity bus shelters.

While this is a distinctive and drastic change to Roosevelt, it still doesn't do much for the stretch of Roosevelt west of State - where bikers tend to be at more risk from the amount of cars/buses. However, this is a "pilot" and if it proves successful then it could mean additional improvements for bikers along Roosevelt and throughout the city.

Should be interesting to see how this pans out. What do you think? Good? Bad? Indifferent?